JX2 ADVENTURES

Well, North America is conquered.  We are off to Europe.  I’ve never been there, so I’m pretty excited.  I even smiled a little earlier today.  Since this is my final post for this continent, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect a little on a few things and to make some grand sweeping generalizations about the people I met and maybe even create some new stereotypes.  You’re welcome, world!

In some ways, the travel across the continent is poetic…. In that it starts extremely primitive in Alaska and gradually gets more cosmopolitan as you ride across.  The Yukon is primitive, British Columbia slightly less with more people, and as you ride east to Toronto, the cities seem to get bigger and more diverse.  Well, I don’t really know if that is poetic but it sounded good… especially after all the wine I have had in the Sky Lounge, where important people such as myself go to eat and drink before our flights.  Actually, my first time here, but I’m trying to present the proper image.  In fact, I just ignored the girl next to me as I am typing. 

Anyway, our last few days were spent in Toronto, which is a really big city and unlike any other part of Canada we have seen.   The city is very diverse in its population and it appears, from the parts we saw to have very large Indian, arab, and Asian populations.  It’s not an overly pretty city, but seems to have some very interesting sections.

As I look back over the last month of travel, I am struck by how much I enjoyed the Canadian people.   My one other trip here gave me the impression that Canadians are very nice, polite, and gracious.  This trip has only confirmed my first impression.  We have almost been like celebrities here.  People come up every time we stop to talk and take pictures with us.  Everyone is so interested in the adventure and we have already received numerous emails from people we have met.  Of course, this all suits Joe fine, since he could strike up a conversation with a deaf dog in a hail storm.  He has easily made friends with 50% of the country as we have crossed it.   In any case, I will always look back fondly at the time I spent in Canada and the many friends we made along the way.  Thanks, Canada. 

The first month has definitely been an adventure; some of the type we want and some we would have rather avoided.  The whole debacle with our lost passports and delayed visas would have been nice to avoid…. But that’s what you get with an adventure like this.  There is so much planning and so many pieces that have to come together to make it all work.  Part of the fun is taking what you get and making it work.

The KTM’s have performed well, but we have had a few minor mechanical issues.  We are pretty happy with them, but have been surprised by the expense of the maintenance.  Overall though, it’s the performance that matters and they perform well.

The highlights of North America:  I would have to say that traveling to the Arctic Circle and on the Alaska Hwy were pretty cool.  The Yukon and British Columbia were also impressive.  The scenery, the wilderness, and the wildlife were captivating.   The neverending sunlight in the Arctic Circle was mind blowing.  We actually put on sunscreen before going to bed a couple of nights when we were camping.

Funny moments:  I must say there were two that stuck in my mind.

The first was with naughty boy.  I already mentioned him in an earlier blog, but I thought I would rehash for some funny details.  At one campground, behind a bar, we met a guy, whose name was Alan, I think, and his mother.  Alan was probably in his fifties and his mother was about 80.  They were traveling in a big bus RV and had been everywhere.  Alan spent most of the night stoking the fire, which was near our tents.  He immediately told us how he had not showered in days, and it was fortunate his mother has lost her sense of smell years ago.  I wholeheartedly believed him regard to his lack of showering.   Mother finally appeared out of the RV with her dog, Naughty Boy, who was a much older version of Benji, wearing one of those lamp shades, and who appeared to be fairly blind.  Joe and I got in our respective tents pretty early and were trying to sleep.   Mother kept calling Naughty Boy literally about 100 times, interspersed with asking Alan to take her back to the camper, which he refused, because he wanted her to stay with him for a while.  It was somewhat Norman Bates-ish.    At one point, Naughty Boy had wondered over by my tent and was sniffing around.  I had seen him marking his territory earlier so I knew what was going to happen.  So, I’m in the tent whispering loudly, “Pssss….get outta here!  Shooo!”   So, he wanders over to Joe’s tent and starts sniffing.  Mother is full on calling him now.   “Naughty boy, come!  Come! Naughty boy!  Alan, where’s Naughty Boy?”   By now, I’m starting to choke on my own laughter, and Joe is trying to shoo naughty boy away from his tent.  I guess he heard Mother and took off running and ran directly into my tent.  Joe started cracking up by now and Naughty boy, who didn’t find any of it amusing, bounced off the tent and wandered back to Mother.  During all of the this, the drunks from the bar were out back rocking out to 80s music and throwing horseshoes.  This was quickly followed by fireworks.

 

The second moment came after I left my flip flops at a campsite.  For those of you who know me, this is no surprise, and for those of you who don’t…. I’m a little bit of a germ-o-phobe.   So, after losing the flip flops, I’m left with the difficulty of showering at the shower houses at the campgrounds with no footwear.   So, I used plastic bags; which is fine , but not overly easy to do.   At one particular shower, I got everything ready, which includes a tooney (a $2 coin….a looney is a $1 coin).  You have to put a coin in the shower and it magically turns on, and is actually a nice temperature.   Oh yeah… I also left my shampoo at the last campground….. So, I had gotten liquid handsoap from the sink and smeared it in my hair and on my chest (probably not a good idea until you are sure the water works).   I get undressed  with my plastic bags in place and my towel strategically placed on the shower rod.   As I step into the shower, careful to avoid any contact with the floor, except through my bags, I put a tooney in the coin slot.  This shower was quite small, and when the water turned on, it created a suction, sucking the shower curtain up against my butt…. Not a pleasant sensation anywhere, but certainly not in a public shower.  This sent me scrambling to peel it off of me, which is hard to do when you are standing on plastic bags.  As I tried to get away from the attacking curtain, I lost my balance and leaned up against one of the walls with my side.   The fear of the cold, germ-ridden wall made me step off of one of the bags and touch the floor with my foot.  By now, one of my bags had slid over the drain, causing several inches of water to start filling the shower.   I quickly tried to drag the bag off of the drain with my foot, without touching the floor, but was caught again by the attacking curtain, which stuck to my right side.   I grabbed for my towel to save myself and knocked it on the floor.  Thank God no one else was in the shower because it was probably an interesting listen outside of my shower stall.  Of course, I had no soap, so all I could do was rinse off and climb out of the shower onto the little wooden bench where my clothes were sitting.  I then had to try to get my clothes, socks and shoes on without touching the floor.  It was all a truly tramatic event.  Needless to say, I have since purchases another pair of flip flops.

So, all is well that ends well.  We are moving on from Canada to London. 

 Canada is a lot of fun, A?  You should get oot here some time. Right on?  You need to see what all the fuss is aboot !   lol  I love their accents.  We are now practicing our English accents.  We know they love it when we imitate them.   “pip pip Cheerio.  I’m doing bloody well.  How about some fish and chips?”  lol

Well, it’s off to catch a flight.  I will add some pictures soon.  

Jim 

“To each on his journey, whether it be large or small.  It’s not the scale that matters…it’s that you dare to journey at all.”